Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill

on behalf of the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: Tēnā tātou. I move, That the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill be now read a second time. We acknowledge today the maunga of Puketapu me Manawarū, the awa of Te Ārai te Uru me Waipoua, the waka of Horouta me Tākitimu. From Te Kōwhai, the southern side of Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa across to its most western point at Ruakituri, then northwards to Maungapere and Wharekōpae in the east to Kaiti block near Wainui. This is the rohe of Rongowhakaata, the w’enua and the home of descendants of Turahiri, Moetai, Uetupupukē, me Rongawhakaata raua ko Ruapani. Their iwi—there is an iwi of over 4,700 people, who are based in the Tūranga/Gisborne region. Rongowhakaata people, their history, their story is woven into the fabric of the land of Tūranga, but also the land that we call Aotearoa. At our national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, the Rongowhakaata tupuna w’are, Te Hau ki Tūranga, is currently housed—a majestic, awe-inspiring meeting house that many thousands of New Zealanders and thousands more of international manuhiri have had the privilege of walking through.

What is the history to this w’are being so far from home? The story is told in the petition of Rahuruhi Rukopō on 8 July 1867:

Ko tō mātou taonga nui, ko tō mātou w’are w’akairo

Kia maurai huhua koretia e te Kāwanatanga

Kihae mātou i w’akaae

[Our prized possession, our valuable carved house

Has been taken from us by the Government without just cause

We did not consent to its removal]

This is the symbolic context for which we consider the enormity of the losses that were felt by Rongowhakaata. Their settlement claims bill relates specifically to the Crown’s role in the war in Tūranga in the 1860s and the subsequent imprisonment of a number of Rongowhakaata to the Chatham Islands, the effective confiscation of their land, the operation of the Poverty Bay Commission, and the operation and the impact of the Native Land Court.

These Crown policies and laws resulted in the economic, social, and cultural deprivation of the Rongowhakaata people. Seventy-one of the occupants of the Pukeāmionga marae were killed by the Crown during this period. There were 71 lives lost in the supposed name of building a nation. It is indeed a wretched history. The Waitangi Tribunal described the Crown’s Treaty breaches in the Tūranga region as amongst the worst anywhere in New Zealand. This settlement bill is a time for remorse, for regret, and for grieving.

We must not underscore the profound losses engraved through our colonial past as we look to negotiate our new beginnings. Historian Dr Claudia Orange notes that the explanations given at the Treaty signing support the conclusion that though Māori expected the Treaty to initiate a new relationship, it would be one in which Māori and Pākehā would share authority. Māori were encouraged to believe that their rangatiratanga would be enhanced and that Māori control over tribal matters would remain.

As this settlement and the ones after and, no doubt, after that will remind us, the Rongowhakaata settlement acknowledges Crown actions arising from interaction with this iwi whereby the Crown breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. The settlement contains the apology for those occasions when it did, through deed or omission, breach its duty to Rongowhakaata under the Treaty of Waitangi. These breaches include the unnecessary use of force at Waerenga a Hika and summary executions at Ngātapa, the Crown’s detaining of some Rongowhakaata without trial on the Chatham Islands, and the failure to protect Rongowhakaata from landlessness. This Treaty settlement provides redress to this iwi for the historical wounds that have been inflicted by the Crown.

The Crown recognises the traditional historical and spiritual connection of Rongowhakaata with specific places owned by the Crown within Rongowhakaata’s area of interest. This settlement will provide for cultural redress, commercial and financial redress, and Crown acknowledgments, which form the basis of a Crown apology to this iwi.

Finally, I want to end in noting that of particular significance is the vesting of Te Hau ki Tūranga in Rongowhakaata. This beautiful w’are, Te Hau is one of the oldest surviving meeting houses in Aotearoa, and I am glad that this very special taonga will be vested in Rongowhakaata. The nation has a debt of gratitude to this iwi for the use that we have had so freely of your tribal w’are. I look forward to its return to Tūranga if that is what the iwi finally decide.

The Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee on 8 March 2012. The committee reported back to the House on 6 June 2012. The committee recommended that that bill be passed with only minor, technical amendments, and I wish to acknowledge here the work of my parliamentary colleagues on the Māori Affairs Committee, particularly the chair, the Hon Tau Henare, and to pay my enduring tributes to the Minister, the Hon Chris Finlayson, and to the House for the expeditious passage of this bill. I hope that the resolution of these historical Treaty claims will help to foster a better future for Rongowhakaata and a more constructive relationship between the Crown and iwi. Nā reira, tēnā koutou katoa.

Mr Assistant Speaker, e tika atu i runga i te tū, kia mihi atu i a koutou ngā mea pakeke Lewis, koutou e noho atu i reira, ngā whānaunga o te hau kāinga. Ka nui te mihi i kaha atu koutou, i tae mai ki konei kia rongo ai i te kōrero nei. Ki a koe e te Kaiwhakahaere, e tautokotia atu ngā kōrero o te Hōnore Tariana mō te āhua o tēnei whakahoki.

Ko tēnei anō wētahi o ngā tino pakanga mahi taurekareka a te Karauna ki wētahi o ngā iwi o Aotearoa. E mōhio atu tātau, mai i te tīmata o te tae o te Karauna i reira, e pakanga atu rātau. E kaha ana ngā hōia i te mau pū, e rongo atu te iwi, te hapū o Rongowhakaata ki te pakopako o te pū, ko te mate i hinga atu ngā tamariki me wētahi o ngā wahine, me wētahi o ngā uri. E tino rerekē atu tēnei mahi i roto i a Aotearoa. Nā te pai hoki kua tae atu tātau i te wā e whakatikatika atu pea wētahi o ngā hara, ngā hakihaki e mahi atu rātau ki te iwi, ngā hapū o Rongowhakaata.

Nō reira, e mihi kau ana ki a rātau e kore i konei, mihi kau ana ki ngā mate i roto i a rātau. Mihi kau ana ki ngā mea pakeke pērā i a Darcy, Lena, rātau mā, e kore i konei. E tangi hoki te ngākau mō rātau e whawhai tonu atu roaroa atu mō te whakahoki o te tinanatanga o rātau o Rongowhakaata. Nō reira, e tangi hoki te ngākau. Nui atu rātau e kore i konei engari, mō rātau e ora ana, e whawhai tonu atu, e mihi kau ana ki a rātau.

[Mr Assistant Speaker, it is appropriate in rising that I pay a tribute to the elder ones collectively, the relatives living there back home, you, Lewis, and others. Your efforts to get here to hear this address is greatly admired. To you, Mr Assistant Speaker, I endorse the sentiments expressed by the Hon Tariana Turia about the nature of this return.

This is also one of these major conflicts that the Crown inflicted upon some tribes in New Zealand. We know that when the Crown arrived there, hostilities broke out. Colonial soldiers were heavily armed, the tribe and subtribes of Rongowhakaata heard the muskets go off. The tragedy was that children and some of the women and relatives went down in the gunfire. This act was something totally alien to New Zealand. A positive thing is that we have arrived at a point where some of the sins and bad outcomes inflicted by those soldiers upon the tribe and subtribes of Rongowhakaata can be settled.

So I pay a tribute to those who are no longer here, and to the deaths among them. I acknowledge the elder ones, like Darcy, Lena, and those who are no longer here. I sympathise with those who continued the fight for the settlement of Rongowhakaata’s claims. The heart also grieves for those who have fought for a very long time to build up Rongowhakaata. So the heart mourns. There are so many of them who are no longer here, but for those who remain alive and who continue to fight on, I salute you.]

I want to reiterate what the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, the Hon Tau Henare, said, and agree with the sentiments. Certainly, I want to thank the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations for his effort. I want to remember and recognise Michael Cullen, who is not here, and the Hon Tariana Turia for her points of fact in relation to this apology. The Māori Affairs Committee has put a lot of effort into working through this. At times it has been complicated, but, certainly, we have got to what I believe is a good final end point both for Rongowhakaata and for Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi. I want to inform Mr Tau Henare, the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, that the illustrious Trevor Mallard actually played a role as chair of the Māori Affairs Committee one time, and I found that quite amazing. But I do want to recognise my colleague Trevor Mallard for being the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. Kia ora tātou.

But on a more serious note, congratulations and thanks need to go to Willie Te Aho, Stanley Pardoe, Meka Whaitiri, Jody Wylie, Lewis Moeau, Maever and Peter Moeau, and a whole lot of other groups of people who have been involved in getting to this final point.

You know, there is a lot of history in this country about the tensions between the Crown and people. For me, this is at the top of the tree in relation to the dastardly deeds enacted by the Government on a people. The slaughtering in the Ngātapa and the Waerenga a Hika battles was just so imbalanced, unfair, and nasty that it is an honour to be here to try to put some of that right—because some of it will never be put right. But, again, with Rongowhakaata being who they are, humble enough and keen enough to move on with life, they have worked hard to get to this important point.

The bill does record apologies to Rongowhakaata and Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi for the historical acts. As the previous speaker, Tariana Turia, said, it was amazing that they were sent to the Chatham Islands. They were jailed, and were actually chained while they were in jail. That they escaped certainly shows the tenacity and energy of Rongowhakaata people. It is one escape we should applaud.

We need to remember that prior to 1865 Rongowhakaata had full control over their lands and resources, and were participating successfully in the New Zealand economy. The Crown used military force in Tūranga in November 1865 when there was no need to do so, and the Crown did not pursue all reasonable possibilities for preserving peace. It actually incited the reactions not just from the iwi but amongst the soldiers. The Crown’s attack on Waerenga a Hika, whose occupants included women and children, was unwarranted and unjust. That attack caused severe and long-term prejudice for Rongowhakaata and breached the Treaty of Waitangi in its principles. It more than breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, it breached the basic fundamentals in a human nature sense. It was about one people trying to slaughter another people, and that, certainly, for me is important to state, not to overexcite the past, but to ensure that it is stated on behalf of all of those people who are not here today, because I have been privileged enough to sit in hui in Manutuke and in Muriwai and listen to old people who have had one thing on their mind about putting this right—people who are not here now, like Darcy, like Hēni—all of those people. They were serious about this. They kept on going and kept on going, and they kept on passing away, and those who live now as Rongowhakaata need to be encouraged that they embellish not just that commitment by those elders, but what they are going to do going forward. The Minister and officials etc. need to be commended for their part in it in this present day. It is nothing that the Crown should be proud about, the slaughter and the battles in the cliffs at Ngātapa. The purposeful chasing of children and women was just outrageous.

The Crown acknowledges the indefinite detention in the harsh lands, and certainly understands about the unwarranted hardships enacted at this stage on those people. I think in terms of the returning, and one of the key aspects of Te Hau ki Tūranga, the whare that has been in Te Papa, which, again, they have shared with the nation and international visitors, it is time to go home—it is a good time. I would ask the Minister, as I have mentioned before, that in relation to moving it, the cost and resourcing be put behind it—and that it is serious cost; it will not be simple and it will not be straightforward—and not to sign this settlement off and then say: “Well, it’s up to you now.” That is what happened when a lot of the incorporated lands were given back. People jumped at it and took it, and all of a sudden they had to pay debts that were left on the lands, and they could not afford it and they ended up going back into debt. I want to say that seriously about this whare. It is important to their people. It does epitomise those strengths of Rukupō, of one of the great carvers in this country, and it is something that we must preserve, because it is a living connection with the past and shows their certain adeptness in relation to preserving who they were and who they are.

The summary executions at Ngātapa by Crown forces in January 1869 certainly epitomise this whole gory history, but it has to be recognised that the Crown has a parcel of allocations, including the transfer of eight cultural sites, returning Te Hau ki Tūranga ki Rongowhakaata, and relationships redress, including protocols with the Ministers for Arts, Culture and Heritage, the Minister of Conservation, the Minister of Energy and Resources, and the fisheries Minister. Again, Minister, I say what I have said to you a half a dozen times, but ever so much more with this iwi. At the end of the day they need all the support to correct and to build their capacity, both economically and culturally. Too many times we see Government agencies saying: “Yes, we are into this.” and they do not do it. Dare I mention Whānau Ora in the House, as great as it is going with the effort by Minister Turia.

I want to say that about this. Let us not just speak to this and not do what needs to be done. Ensure that you keep your beady eye on it, because you are pretty good, and make sure you have got your glasses on when you are watching it. There is $22.24 million redress for Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi, and that is something that Peter and Maever Moeau need to be really commended on: that they have stood up, and that their tupuna is being recognised in the sense that they have chosen to recognise. Certainly, I wish them well.

Minister, in closing I want to encourage you. You watch those ministries, you make sure that the added resources are put up behind this, because it is too easy for us to sign off and forget about them. They have got fisheries issues, they have got conservation issues, and they have got all of those things, and I think out of all the dastardly deeds that members of the Crown enacted on iwi around the country, this is one of the worst. And I am not saying that because I live not too far away from it; it is a fact. It is a real, important fact that Rongowhakaata have been treated like nothing on this planet, and I want to commend you for being courageous—

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member; his time has expired.

I want to make just a brief contribution, picking up what Mr Horomia has said. I totally agree with him about the importance of dealing with the cultural redress in relation to Te Hau ki Tūranga well. Nothing has actually given me a greater sense of satisfaction than to see the resolution of the issue relating to Te Hau ki Tūranga. Clause 23 of the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill says that on settlement date the meeting house is going to vest in the trustees.

Those who think Treaty settlements are only about commercial redress should learn something of the history of Te Hau ki Tūranga, one of the oldest surviving carved meeting houses. Basically, it was stolen, and then put in one of the predecessors of what is now Te Papa. I actually did not think we would get to a stage where we could resolve that matter satisfactorily, but thanks to a combined effort from my officials, the negotiators for Rongowhakaata, and the staff and the board of Te Papa, we have got to a very, very happy position.

But I certainly recognise what is said in the commentary on the bill, which is that the meeting house is currently housed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and it eventually is going to be returned to Tūranga, but they do not wish the return to create a financial burden for future generations. That is absolutely fair. So I repeat publicly what I have said to Rongowhakaata in meetings: I want to get on with it and resolve this matter, and I want to work with them, as Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, so that we can resolve the issue within the next couple of years. I give them my undertaking that, should they approach me on it, I want to get on with it. It will have vested in the trustees. It belongs in Tūranga. It should go back as soon as possible to a home that is worthy of this great whare. I will ask Mr Horomia whether he can work with me on that particular issue, because it would be great to have it done in the next couple of years.

There are other aspects of the claim that I could talk about, but I will reserve my comments for the third reading. I strongly exhort members of the public, members of the media, and members of this House to have a good look at the historical account. Mr Horomia is right. The tribunal was right. It was not very good history, at all.

Can I acknowledge once again the wonderful work of the Māori Affairs Committee and its wonderful chair, Mr Henare. This committee has made a very substantial contribution to expediting the passage of this settlement through the House.

Although I will mention certain individuals for Rongowhakaata in the third reading speech, I particularly want to mention now Stan Pardoe; Jody Wyllie, who has been so concerned about Te Hau ki Tūranga; Kristen Maynard; Tū Wyllie; Willie Te Aho, who did great work; and—and I know he is in the gallery; he is a friend to everyone in this Chamber—Lewis Moeau, who is now leading Rongowhakaata. He is a great rangatira around here and we appreciate what he does for his country.

I acknowledge all of those who have been involved in this settlement. I am really pleased we have reached this stage. For me, the symbol of a lasting and a durable—a just—settlement is the unfinished business on Te Hau ki Tūranga, so let us get on with it.

Ata mārie. Tēnā koe e te Kaiwhakahaere, ā, tēnā koutou e te Whare. Tēnā koutou Rongowhakaata me ngā uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi, ngā mihi atu ki a koutou katoa.

[A peaceful morning. Greetings to you, Mr Speaker, and to you collectively, the House. Acknowledgments to you collectively, Rongowhakaata and descendants of Te Kooti Rikirangi, salutations to you all.]

I am delighted to speak at this, the second reading of the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill. I would like to acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations for all his work with his officials in promoting this bill, and I would also like to acknowledge the work of our Māori Affairs Committee under our—

💬 Michael Woodhouse: Outstanding.

—outstanding chair, my whanaunga from the north, the Hon Tau Henare. He is a great captain of our Māori rugby team that we are in the Māori Affairs Committee. Before I make my brief contribution in this part—

💬 Hon Chris Tremain: Come and join us next Sunday up in Palmerston North.

Ha, ha! Being part of the Māori Affairs Committee is such an honour, because we got to travel to Tūranga to actually hear from Rongowhakaata and Ngai Tāmanuhiri and other submitters. It was, surprisingly, probably one of the quickest select committee hearings, I think, in the history of the Māori Affairs Committee. The word that came through really from the haukāinga was for us to do our work expeditiously and to really encourage us to put this bill through the House, so I do not intend to prolong the process.

I want to just actually tautoko what my matua here, Parekura Horomia, mentioned. This is a very dark history of our country—dark, dastardly deeds that were carried out by the Karauna against Rongowhakaata—and it is very important that the acknowledgments are made. That has been very clearly set out in the deed of settlement and also in the bill. Also it is important that there is a Crown apology and that, again, is set out in the bill. Then we go on to the elements of the redress, the cultural and commercial redress. But the history is very dark indeed. I just need to mention the name Waerenga a Hika and the raids, or military attacks, there; Ngātapa, and the executions and the like that were carried out there; and then also the indefinite detentions of prisoners that were taking place on far away places such as Wharekauri Rēkohu—the Chatham Islands. I do marvel at the fact that those who were detained made their way all the way back from all the way over in the Chatham Islands. It is a very remote part of Aotearoa, so it just goes to show the great drive and commitment that those descendants of Rongowhakaata had, even though they were so far away from home.

I want to pick up on what this bill represents. The passage of this bill, as touched on by Minister Turia, represents new beginnings. I think that, yes, it is very important that we as a country acknowledge the history—and the Crown acknowledges the history—of the colonisation of our country, and the grievous acts that were inflicted upon our various iwi, hapū, and whānau right across the motu. That is very important, but also what is very important—and this is the very encouraging part for me, being a new member of this House—is to see the recapitalisation of our iwi groups right around the motu. It does mark a new beginning and an exciting future ahead, as we heard yesterday from the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in the Māori Affairs Committee. I look at my own whānau down south and at Ngāi Tahu—from a $150 million settlement, they have been able to actually re-establish a very broad presence across Te Wai Pounamu, and also increase the tribal pūtea for the benefits of future generations, and that is what it is all about.

So I look forward to seeing Rongowhakaata being a major force in the Tūranga economy. I know they were real experts in gardening, and the maritime trade, right across to Australia, so it is going to be exciting to see the future as it unfolds. I do acknowledge the likes of Stan Pardoe, who has been driving this process along right the way through for Rongowhakaata. I have had the honour of dealing with him. We have seen the Māori economy grow among our historical groups, our recapitalised tribal groups, yet they are widely represented within the Rongowhakaata whānau.

That concludes my contribution, and I commend this bill to the House.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Tēnā koutou e te Whare. He mihi nui ki a Rongowhakaata me Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi. Tēnā koutou. It is my privilege to stand as a Pākehā and support the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Bill as a person who lived in the rohe of Rongowhakaata for 8 years. I feel quite emotional standing here, because I know the journey they have been on to get to this point. I would like to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee and the previous speakers for the hard work they have done on one of the biggest hara in the history of this country. To know what Rongowhakaata went through, and then to have taught Te Tiriti o Waitangi issues in their rohe with descendants of Te Kooti, of Rongowhakaata, and of the Matawhero settlers and the soldiers of Rōpata Wahawaha—the whole lot—was a humbling experience for me as a Pākehā.

But I speak on these bills because it is a Pākehā issue—Te Tiriti o Waitangi—and we need to stand up for it. We need to learn from every one of these stories. I acknowledge the chair of the select committee, the Hon Tau Henare, for saying that this settlement is an opportunity for the rest of the country to learn this story. Sadly, living in Gisborne are a lot of people who do not. They do not know this story. They have not listened and they have not heard what Rongowhakaata have so nobly stood up for with dignity in their rohe for so long. I was a privileged person to learn about this.

I want to acknowledge the people who worked on the claim, but particularly my fiery friend Jody Tōroa from Rongowhakaata. I learnt from her challenges the real story of the whenua that was all around us, and the history of places like Waerenga a Hika me Ngātapa. Those places are now gentrified, now Anglicised, and now covered in pretty Western trees, but, unfortunately, privatised to the point where in the settlement Rongowhakaata are not getting that whenua back. The Pākehā farmers of Gisborne are making a lot of money, as they always have, off that history, and they do not even come and hear that history. When I went to the settlement, I was the only Pākehā in the room except for the lawyers, and that told me something about how far my community had to go. I was there only because Jody said “Get over here now.” So I do honour those people for their patience, and I know that telling the story is a painful process.

Others have covered what I also would like to just briefly mention around the history and the almost textbook colonisation processes that were used with Rongowhakaata more than with many others. So you have theft—direct theft—you have war, you have confiscation, you have marriage and then alienation via marriage, you have a forced deed of settlement, and more threats, and also extinguishment of rights, and then you have false imprisonment as well as killing. It is a total picture. As others have said, we do not want to dwell on hurt when we are in a process of resolution, but in order to heal the story needs to be told, and I demand that every Pākehā New Zealander learn this story so that they can understand why Rongowhakaata are in the situation that they are in, and why they continue to try to articulate something that most people do not even know about in the so-called town of Gisborne.

I think it was Minister Turia who mentioned the Poverty Bay Commission. Also, the role of the Māori Land Court in this is fascinating as a methodology of extinguishing rights. It was very crude as well as very sophisticated in some ways. Because I worked on issues that affected Rongowhakaata, I know how ongoing those machinations can be. I hope that today we are drawing a line in the sand and actually standing up for no more of those both direct and indirect ways of marginalising tangata whenua. This country was built on Te Tiriti. We should uphold that at all times.

There are other things that I would like to mention. Others have talked a lot about Te Hau ki Tūranga, the beautiful carved whare of Raharuhi Rukupō. It was a spiritual as well as an actual theft. I acknowledge the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Christopher Finlayson, because I know how hard he is trying to get that whare back where it belongs. That is what everybody wants. It is just that, again, the implications and costs should not fall on those who were robbed. You do not steal a car from somebody then offer them a wheel back but they have to make sure that the wheel is in working order. So I think it is about the proper resources for redress. I am delighted the whare is to be vested in the right people, but, again, behind that must be the resources to make sure the whare is actually back in the heart of the people again. That is when there will be more tears but more healing, and that is when the Treaty will have been honoured.

I guess I want to talk a little bit about aspects of the settlement that worry me a little. I find an expression like “market price”—giving these people the first opportunity to purchase things back at the market price—to be offensive. These people had their whenua stolen, and all they get is the opportunity to buy it back at market price? I do not get that. In terms of natural justice, it is great that they get the opportunity to buy things back, if we are not prepared to give them back, but, you know, paying a market price for something that was taken 200 years ago? What about the price of it when it was taken from them? Why should they not pay, I do not know, £20—that sounds good—for some of these sites? What concerns me, too, is that there is not much whenua in the deal. Where is the whenua? You know why there is no whenua? Because it all belongs to those farmers, and the Crown cannot take it off them. So we maintain Rongowhakaata without those resources. I am very appreciative of the cultural redress. The apology is excellent. It is excellent that some of the sites in Gisborne are being vested back in Rongowhakaata. But for the strength, cultural significance, and spiritual and economic well-being of the people, whenua is at the heart of the issue.

💬 Hon Chris Tremain: Vote against it, then.

We will not vote against the bill, though, because we do believe in the progress that has been made. We would not insult the people of Rongowhakaata by saying they have not made progress. They have sweated blood to get to here. And I know that blood, so I will not oppose the bill. I would just like to see continuing engagement by Pākehā people, in this Whare and everywhere else, about what is not finished. It is a deal, not a settlement, when there is not any whenua. That is what I am saying. And I support the deal. That is what the people have told me—they want it supported. So there are some moneys and some sites, but I think Rongowhakaata deserve more, to be honest. But I am also recognising the progress that has been made.

I also want to talk about some of the contemporary issues that were mentioned in the claim around water—around that fascinating and contemporary issue—around the rivers of Tūranga, and also around the sewage issue, which Rongowhakaata have played a major role in, despite the abuse of their wāhi tapu, despite the contempt shown by pumping 40,000 people’s raw sewage into their bay for many, many years. I want to acknowledge their kuia and kaumātua, the kuia and kaumātua of Rongowhakaata who stood with us, alongside Ngai Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki—through Te Rūnanga o Turanganui-a-Kiwa—to fight for the clean-up of that desecration. If we are going to have settlement, we have to stop desecration in the contemporary situation as well as in the historic one. For 15 years Rongowhakaata asserted its rangatiratanga through the courts and spent precious moneys, along with the two other iwi, trying to get the Gisborne District Council to stop pumping raw sewage into the bay. We all worked on that issue—two Pākehās, I and my partner, Gordon Jackman—the group called Oho Ake, and those three iwi. Through the efforts of Prue Kapua, who is an excellent lawyer, and through the efforts of these iwi we managed to get some treatment—some first-stage treatment. We are still working on it.

But the generosity of these people is that they never give up their whakapapa. They never give up their commitment to trying to heal abuses that were caused last century, were caused the century before, and, sad to say, are ongoing. So I really do want to stand up and take my hat off today to these people and to the achievement that they have made. Although I have criticised it for its lack of scope in many ways, culturally I think there has been excellent work done. I also recognise the ongoing commitment of the Minister, which he just gave in the House, to continuing to work on the return of Te Hau ki Tūranga, which is a very, very important and symbolic issue. But, again, as a Pākehā I would just like to say that this is our stuff. We are all part of this. We need to stand up for it. I would just like to mihi to Rongowhakaata. Tēnā koutou.

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. Te mea tuatahi, ki aku rangatira, kei a koutou e aku tuākana a Rongowhakaata, tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou i haere mai nei i tēnei rā, i rongo koutou ki ngā kōrero o ngā rangatira o tēnei Whare. Ko ahau he uri nō Wahinekino, ko ahau a Rongowhakaata. Nō reira, ka mihi au ki a koutou e aku whanaunga, e aku tūpuna, e aku tuākana.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. The first thing is to acknowledge my chiefs. So to you, my elder kin, Rongowhakaata, greetings to you collectively. I salute you who came here today. You have heard the sentiments expressed by representatives of this House. I am an offspring of Wahinekino, I am a Rongowhakaata. So I acknowledge you, my relatives, ancestors, and elder siblings.]

I am a boy from “O-town”, from 274, from Ōtara—born and bred. I always have been brought up to believe the great stories of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi, until one day I found out that the great carver of Te Hau ki Tūranga—Raharuhi Rukupō—had a sister called Wahinekino, who is my tupuna. As the story goes, she married a Wynyard and had Robert Henry Wynyard, who had Tau Henare No. 1, who was a member of this Parliament back in the day. He had Mita, my grandfather, who had Paul, my father, and I am the—

💬 Hon Parekura Horomia: Kia ora Rongowhakaata! Tēnā koe!

—and the story goes on and on and on. I married a princess—and I will call her a princess—from up on the coast. As it transpires, her ancestors, her tūpuna served time on the Chatham Islands with regard to what we have been talking about today. My son is now being tutored by a man they call “D man”, a man they call Derek Lardelli, up at Toihoukura. So the circle gets bigger and bigger and bigger in my relationship with those fine people from Rongowhakaata, from Tūranga.

I want to acknowledge everything that the previous speakers have said, but I want to continue my theme about the great and fantastic tapestry that is New Zealand, that is Aotearoa, and I want to, if I may, veer off for a couple of seconds. On 26 December 1890, Boxing Day, in America, something happened that most of us know about. That was the massacre at Wounded Knee, where between 150 and 300 people were massacred. We know about these stories. We know about the Matawhero massacre, but not many of our people know about the massacre at Ngātapa, and the battle at Waerenga a Hika.

To continue the theme that was raised by Brendan Horan and Louisa Wall about the education of New Zealand in terms of the Treaty settlements and those stories that make up the great tapestry of New Zealand, these stories should be up there in the first chapter of that tapestry that is called New Zealand Aotearoa. It is not only about what happened, it is also about what happened beforehand, and also after. The stories of Rukupō, the stories of how Te Hau ki Tūranga was taken from that area and put into the Dominion Museum, and about how it was cut to pieces to be able to fit into the Dominion Museum, is another story.

So I suppose what I am saying is that, yes, this is a solemn day, it is a great day that we move to settle those grievances, but on the other hand we should, somewhere, be able to learn about those things. I mean, if you go on to YouTube, and put in the words “Wounded Knee”, hundreds of 10-minute videos exist about the story of Wounded Knee. They relate to the Oglala battle at Little Bighorn, and so on and so forth. You get to learn the story. Yes, you, Mr Speaker. You get to learn about the story of the Lakota—the Sioux—and even General Custer himself. How come we cannot turn on YouTube and see our stories? How come we cannot learn about our stories, regardless of whether it is Ngātapa or whether it is the stories of how John Hancock went down to Otago and found gold, and his interesting stories? How come we cannot see those?

In the context of what I started off with this morning, about the tapestry, the great and fantastic ins and outs and twists and turns of New Zealand Aotearoa, this story is one that I hope—when somebody really does pull out all the stops on a story about our country, New Zealand Aotearoa—is part of that great tapestry.

In terms of the quantum, you are never ever going to get what people rightly deserve. Even the South Canterbury Finance people are not going to get the return they think they should. I do commend the work of the Minister, the officials, and my mates on the Māori Affairs Committee, but also the work that the House does in trying to push this through. At the end of the day, when it comes to the House it is actually non-controversial. Yes, there are issues about water rights and all sorts of things, and we will deal with those maybe next week. But now we are dealing with a part of New Zealand’s story, and putting the pieces of the jigsaw of that story into place so the next ones that come after us can read a fuller account and version of New Zealand’s story.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. I rise once more on behalf of New Zealand First, and again I see myself agreeing with the vast majority of my cross-party colleagues’ earlier comments, especially those of the Hon Parekura Horomia.

I would like to acknowledge the closeness of Rongowhakaata, te manuhiri. It is wonderful to see that you can travel through and support each other in this journey.

I would like to acknowledge Minister Finlayson for his genuine efforts in this small but tremendously important part of that journey. I find myself in a peculiar situation in that a few weeks ago I heard the most honest, comprehensive, and heartfelt apology ever given by the Crown. That was in Tauranga, and was delivered by Minister Finlayson. I must say that the Minister won my respect and also restored considerable mana to the Crown with his honourable intent. My heart soared, along with that of Rongowhakaata, I am sure, when Minister Finlayson acknowledged his goal of the return of a whare tipuna, Te Hau ki Tūranga. I know that the echo of that affirmation will give continued hope, joy, and confidence to Rongowhakaata.

There is still a small way to go. An expeditious conclusion here in the House will allow the emerging, empowered Rongowhakaata entity to carry the iwi into the future. Kia ora.

Bill read a second time.